LAST LESSONS #101 – KENYA

 “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” Psalm 2:8

I could hardly believe my ears when BSF said they would give me as a retirement gift enough money to build an orphanage and operate it for five years. That was in 1999. At that time there were five countries where Rafiki had missionaries teaching BSF classes and one of them was Kenya. I remember immediately calling Steve Kranz who, with his wife Carol, were teaching BSF classes in Nairobi. I asked Steve if he would like to start an orphanage in Nairobi and, without skipping a beat, he said yes! At that time Steve was teaching street kids woodworking.

Steve began looking into the cost of caring for an orphan—information that would be necessary for us. With that information, we were able to hire an architect in San Antonio to prepare a “fly-thru” showing viewers what an orphanage in Africa would look like. As I showed this video to BSF classes, money began to pour in, to the point that we had enough to build several orphanages!

In the meantime, Steve and Carol began to look for property in Kenya. Although three Rafiki countries (Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda) were able to meet the requirements for us to build orphanages before Kenya was, Steve’s research was necessary wherever we had orphans.

In Kenya Steve found a piece of property in Limuru—about 20 miles from Nairobi—for sale and we considered it, but it wasn’t perfect. However, since it was the only available place we had found, we made an offer on it. But God had a better plan! He knew the perfect place for us and was about to tell us.

Here’s what happened: Carol Kranz taught an evening BSF class in Nairobi and the daughter of the first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, attended the class. Her name is Kristina Kenyatta Pratt. One evening at class Carol mentioned the need for property for an orphanage. Kristina talked to Carol after class and said she might know of a place—the Kenyatta family farm in Kasarani just outside Nairobi proper. As Steve spoke to Kristina later about giving the farm to Rafiki, she said that Kenyans never give land to Kenyans and certainly they don’t give to Mzungus (foreigners)! But God would not let Kristina sleep. He was working on her heart. She then got her sister Nyokabi, and her brother Uhuru together to meet with us on the Kenyatta farm. At that meeting we discovered that their mother Mama N’gina Kenyatta wanted the property to be used to take care of children, so they offered Rafiki the property. Since we had already made an offer on the land in Limuru we didn’t know what to say to the Kenyatta family. At the suggestion of my daughter Kathy who was with us, I asked Uhuru (now the President of Kenya) if Nairobi had a music conservatory. He said no. I asked if there was a conservatory anywhere in Kenya and he said no. So, I suggested that maybe the Kenyatta’s would like to use their family farm for a conservatory since Rafiki had an offer on the Limuru property.

Kristina said she wanted a private meeting with just Carol Kranz and me the next day. We went to her office, and she informed us that the Kenyatta family had decided that if we could extricate ourselves from the Limuru contract that they wanted the Kenyatta farm to be given to Rafiki for an orphanage AND that they would give us property in downtown Nairobi for a conservatory!

By God’s grace, Rafiki was able to cancel the contract on the Limuru property and on our next trip to Kenya, all the paperwork was finalized with a 49-year lease on the Kenyatta 24-acre farm with an option to extend another 25 years. Only God could do that!

Steve and Carol took over the renovation of the three-story mansion that was on the farm. It had not been lived in for 25 years and was full of bats, rats, and leaks! Steve and Carol moved into the second floor and turned the first floor into a meeting/dining and office space. My husband Bob and I renovated the smaller third floor for an apartment where we could stay when we were in Nairobi. There were several other buildings on the site and Steve made them all usable. What would we have ever done without Steve Kranz! Later Mama N’gina gave another 4 acres to make sure that there would be enough room for schools for her orphans.

When the renovations were all done, the village was dedicated by Mama N’gina and me on January 16, 2004. At that dedication, Mama N’gina told us that she had had many offers to buy this property but that she had held onto it for 20 years because she knew that God had something special for this place. She wanted it to be used for children and she realized that God had sent Rafiki to honor her desire.

As time went on, the Kenyattas and Jensens became good friends. Mama N’gina, Kristina and her husband visited us in San Antonio and stayed in our home there. Mama N’gina loved our house so much that she insisted that we give her the plans for it so that she could build one for herself in Kenya. We did! We also took her to Lynden B. Johnson’s Presidential Library and Johnson City so that she might consider a way to memorialize her husband Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya. We even took her shopping! But that’s another story!

What needs to be said here is that Kristina Pratt is now a Rafiki Kenya Board member, and the Rafiki Village has flourished. David and Julie Pedersen arrived as missionaries (25 years with us now!) and to this day they see to it that the Village has good orphan care, full schools, and a complete RICE complex. God bless the Pedersens!

A conservatory was never given for Rafiki to operate but God gave us something better! Part of the RICE complex is a whole building dedicated to music. In the Rafiki Institute of Music (RIM) building our music major missionary teaches local choir directors to read music and she teaches music classes to RICE students as well as private string and piano lessons. There are 70 primary students taking piano lessons and secondary students perform with stringed instruments. You can be sure that their music reaches the ears of their Lord.

I would never have imagined in a million years that God would put missionaries together with national leaders in such an intricate way to accomplish his purpose, but that’s what he did when he raised up Rafiki in Kenya. I am learning every day that God wants us to see his amazing works so that we can praise him. In order to see them, we must do what he tells us to do each day (including cleaning out bat droppings!) and then watch him work!

LAST LESSONS #100 – UGANDA

 “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” Psalm 2:8

The Rafiki Village in Uganda is all about First Lady Janet Museveni, wife of Yoweri Museveni the President of Uganda. Besides her First Lady duties, Janet Museveni is Minister of Education and Sports but that does not keep her from helping Rafiki. The story of Rafiki in Uganda is really all about her. She is the reason we have orphanages. She is the reason we have Villages. Here’s the story:

In 1992, we went to visit BSF classes in Uganda led by Dan and Barbara Chrouser, and we met Janet Museveni. She had heard of Rafiki and invited those on our trip to meet with her. It was an amazing meeting. She asked each one of us for our testimony of Jesus Christ and then she told us her testimony. There was an immediate bond among us. Then she looked directly at me and asked if Rafiki could help with the 1.5 million orphans in Uganda by building orphanages. I promised that we would pray about it, but we didn’t have any money to build anything! That money did not come in until 1999 when BSF gave it to me as a retirement gift.

However, in the meantime, Rafiki sent out missionaries to Uganda. To get them into the country, they needed a job that would benefit Uganda. Tyler Lunberry was an architect, so we sent him to teach in Makerere University. He was joined by Stu Coiner, an electrical engineer. Tyler and Stu took their wives and the two couples taught BSF classes. Tyler began looking for appropriate land on which to build an orphanage. Nine pieces of property were suitable, and we finally chose a beautiful 58-acre site outside Kampala on a rolling hill with a spectacular view. We were able to lease the land for 99 years and Rafiki was able to pay the entire amount upfront from the money given by BSF class members. God’s provision for his plan.

Tyler and Stu began to build and when the complex was finished in early 2003, Janet Museveni stepped up to dedicate the Rafiki orphanage that she had asked for ten years before. I remember that day very well. Janet (she always wanted me to call her by her first name) came to the microphone in her big hat (it was a hot sunny day!) and her sneakers with socks! She expressed her gratitude without neglecting to mention the memories of how our relationship began. She mentioned that in 1992, she had asked me to visit her orphanage in Masulita in the Wakiso District. I did visit that orphanage then and several other times in succeeding years. It was clean and orderly, but very spartan. Children sleeping on straw mats on the floor and cooking done in pots on outdoor fires. Janet knew that I had one heart with her from those visits and she mentioned them at the Village dedication. She had not forgotten anything!

In succeeding years our friendship grew, and I visited her every time we went to Uganda, usually at the State House. One time she came to the USA for medical reasons and asked me to meet her in Chicago, and I did.

But one visit especially stands out to me. She invited me to her home in Kara Moja (about a 3-hour drive from Kampala). I want to talk about this event because it characterizes Janet Museveni. As we drove into the village of Kara Moja, I was struck by the barrenness of the land. There was not a tree nor a blade of grass in sight. The houses were poor and made mostly of mud bricks. However, when we arrived at the gate to the Museveni compound, everything was built of concrete and nicely painted. Not a mansion, but a very nice home for the Museveni’s. I asked Janet why she would build a home for herself in such a barren and poor location. She said, “Because I want to develop this poor part of Uganda and I know that if I put my house here, it will attract business and development. This area needs me to do this.”

Janet Museveni understood her country’s needs, including the need for education. She was very happy when Rafiki started our Village school, and she asked if she could send six young women students to learn how to be teachers. She talked me into letting them stay in one of the orphan cottages and I happily complied. Later she asked me to take over a secondary school that she had been given near Kampala. She said I MUST take it and she would name it the “Rosemary Jensen Secondary School.” She wanted those students to learn what Rafiki was teaching. When I told her I could not take her school, she asked if Rafiki would run it. That was not possible either so I encouraged her to start pre-schools that she should name “Mama Janet Schools”!!!

Through the years Janet has helped Rafiki in countless ways. She has encouraged our missionaries and come to see the children frequently. She made a speech at the dedication of the RICE building. She brought visitors (including the First Lady of Kenya) to the Village to see her “STAR” project.

In the past twenty years, the Rafiki Village has grown, and a number of missionaries were sent to Uganda. It would take too long to tell all their stories. But one I want to mention is Kelly Fore. Kelly has been in Africa for eleven years and in Uganda for five years. With a master’s degree in education, she is the headmistress of Rafiki’s pre-school through twelfth grade schools. She has endeared herself to Janet Museveni as well as to the President. The reason I am mentioning Kelly is because I am sending a personal letter to Janet for Kelly to deliver by hand. Kelly is returning to Uganda after being home for Enrichment. The letter is asking Janet Museveni to help Rafiki finalize the Rafiki school evaluation process so that our curriculum can be used in the thousands of schools in Uganda. I know that Janet will respond to this request because she always has!

To finish up, you have heard it said that “It takes a village to raise one child.” I have learned that sometimes “It takes one person to raise a village!” Janet Museveni is that kind of person!

LAST LESSONS #99 – NIGERIA

 “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth you possession.” Psalm 2:8 

The story of how God put Rafiki in Nigeria is fascinating to me and to some others—especially Karen Elliott who is part of the story. It began when Bob and I and my brother Don and Bette McEachern went from Ghana to Nigeria for a couple of days in 1989. Our hosts in Jos, Nigeria, were Nancy and Bill Sands who were SIM (Sudan Inland Mission) missionaries. Our trip’s goal was to visit the BSF classes that were in an ECWA (Evangelical Church of West Africa—later named Evangelical Church Winning Africa) church. Although Rafiki was not discussed during that short trip, plans were made for me to return the next year to meet Panya Baba, the president of ECWA, to discuss how Rafiki could assist ECWA in their ministry to Nigerians. ECWA was the largest denomination in Nigeria (numbering more than six million members), and I was to meet their president! Imagine that! 

When I went the next year (1990), I went again to the city of Jos. Jos is in the middle of Nigeria and most people there are Christians. As a matter of fact, JOS stands for “Jesus Our Savior.” To this day Jos stands between the Muslim and the Christian parts of Nigeria.

I went to meet Panya Baba prepared to offer the names of two Rafiki missionaries (Karen Elliott and Alan Schmautz) who could work for ECWA. I expected to meet a big strong man dressed in regal robes. Instead, I found a small gentle man who welcomed us warmly. When Panya Baba heard that we could send a banker (Karen Elliott) to him, he literally went down on his knees in front of me and said that they had been praying for a person who could set up a credit union for the church. Could she do that? When I said “yes” he was almost in tears with gratitude. He was also thrilled with Alan Schmautz, a photographer, who could publish the church’s much-needed newsletter. Immediately Rafiki and ECWA became partners, and the church began the process of registering Rafiki as an NGO in Nigeria.

It didn’t take Karen long to raise her support and leave for Jos where she quickly became the treasurer of the whole ECWA denomination! Alan and his family also went to Jos and worked for ECWA where they were greatly appreciated. And of course, they taught BSF classes! Karen remained as a Rafiki missionary in Nigeria for the next ten years and Rafiki and ECWA flourished with her help.

But I learned something about leadership from Panya Baba—he showed me a beautiful picture of zeal bathed in humility. His total dependence on God for the needs of his church was a lesson I needed for Rafiki, and to this day, I am most grateful for Panya Baba.

Years later in 1999 when Rafiki received funds to open an orphanage in Africa, Nigeria was poised to receive it. In Nigeria, we had missionaries, and Rafiki had been registered as an NGO. All we needed was government’s blessing and land.

Karen set up a meeting for me with Governor Joshua Dariye of Plateau State to discuss the possibility of a place for Rafiki to start a Rafiki Children’s Center. The meeting was very formal and most impressive. The room and furnishings were ornate and beautiful. The governor and I sat at one end of the room on a sofa. On both sides of the room were seated the governor’s cabinet, tribal chiefs, and aides. After some formal speeches the governor asked me what I wanted. I told him that we wanted land on which to build an orphanage. He stated that he would give us land, gifts were exchanged, a friendship was begun.

I learned that Christian government officials make helping countries with their needs fun and exciting!

The next trip to Nigeria was in 2000. We went to see the land that Governor Dariye had in mind for Rafiki, but much to our dismay, squatters had built their homes and planted their crops on it. The governor and we were disappointed, but God had a better way. The Paramount Chief of the Rukuba tribe, Adamu Adiwu heard of our need, already knew that squatters were on the land promised us and came to our rescue. This most intriguing man had heard of the possibility of an orphanage, and said he had some land that his father had left him that he would give Rafiki! Amazing!

When we went back the next year, we got the full story of Adamu’s inheritance. Adamu told us that on his deathbed his father had told him that missionaries had come and brought the gospel and educated him so when he died he wanted his land to be given to missionaries who would start a Christian school. And that is exactly what Rafiki, by God’s grace, would do!

On that trip, we had taken John Chunn, a lawyer on Rafiki’s Board, so on October 25, 2001 a memorandum of understanding was signed transferring 30 acres of the chief’s land to Rafiki. Bill Joslin and his family were sent as missionaries and a contractor was hired to start the work of building. It was a huge job for Africa to build 18 cottages, a dining hall, and missionary residences and took some time.

I will never forget the day before the dedication in 2003. As the sun was setting a truck pulled up in front of the gate with 20 children in the back. They were all orphans who had traveled five hours to be dropped off to live at the new Rafiki orphanage. We could not take them because the government required that they be placed by the Nigerian Ministry of Social Welfare. My heart broke as I watched these children being driven away in the night in the back of that truck. At that time, there were estimated to be ten million orphans in Nigeria.

As the Rafiki orphanage grew, it became apparent that we would need more land. Dear Adamu came to our rescue again and sold us 13 more acres right across the road at a low price. What would we have done if God had not provided Paramount Chief Adamu Adiwu? I am grateful for his visits to the US to see us, and for his continued friendship.

There is one more person that I must mention before ending this story of Nigeria. His name is Jonah Jang. He became the governor of Plateau State in 2007. In God’s providence, Jonah had been a substitute teaching leader in BSF and I had met him at a BSF retreat in Africa. Naturally we became friends and in his official position Jonah did a number of things to help Rafiki. He provided a paved road and a bridge to the Rafiki Village. He drilled solar-powered water wells and provided water storage tanks for Rafiki. He also provided funds for computers for teacher trainees. What a wonderful leader Plateau State had in Jonah Jang.

God is omnipotent and he alone could have put a Rafiki Village in Jos, Nigeria. Instead, he used church leaders, governors, and a tribal chief to make it happen.

What I learned was that it pays to know people in high places!

But it is most important to know the ONE in the highest place of all. And HE gets all the glory.

LAST LESSONS #98 – GHANA

 “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” Psalm 2:8 

Recently all Rafiki missionaries came to the Home Office in Florida for what is called ENRICHMENT. One of the missionaries asked me if I would write how each Rafiki Village came to be. She said that the children in Rafiki schools do not know the history of the beginning of Rafiki in their country and she does not want me to die before I tell their story! To tell the whole story of each Village would take too long, but I agreed to write at least one lesson I learned from each Village. It’s interesting that Ghana is the first place Rafiki put buildings on the ground and one of the speakers for ENRICHMENT was a Ghanaian, so it seemed reasonable to tell you how God established Rafiki in Ghana and what I learned there. 

Ghana was the first place Rafiki built a Children’s Center (1991), but the story began much earlier. In the 1980’s and 1990’s while I was both the General Director of BSF and the Director of Rafiki we sent a couple of missionaries to Ghana to consider starting BSF classes there. In 1989 World Vision International heard of Rafiki and thought that Rafiki and World Vision might cooperate in helping the Ghanaian people. Rev. David Konotey-Ahulu who was the Evangelism and Leadership Coordinator for World Vision, invited Rafiki to visit Ghana. I had never been to Ghana so my doctor husband Bob, my brother Don (both Rafiki Board Members) and his wife Bette, and I flew into Accra, Ghana. David Konote-Ahulu, met us and surprised us by not taking us to a hotel, but to the home of Dr. Francis Darkor who lived in Tema close to Accra. David thought that the two doctors would have much in common. Dr. Darkor and his wife Rosina had a nice house (by African standards) with two extra bedrooms where they welcomed us to stay free. Francis ran a small medical clinic in Tema. The Darkors became long-time friends of ours. Interestingly some years later after Rafiki had built a Village in Ghana, Dr. Darkor generously offered my grandson, teenager Jay Cook, an opportunity to live with him for two weeks and work in his clinic to learn something about medicine. Jay is now Dr. Jay Cook, an orthopedic surgeon, working for the University of Florida and doing short-term medical work in Africa.

But, back to the story of Rafiki coming to Ghana; the Darkors were extremely kind to us to feed and house us, refusing to take any money. Rev. David and Dr. Francis showed us around Accra and helped us make government contacts. We even heard David preach in a Presbyterian church! The Ghanaian people were more kind than I can say and in all the days we spent in Ghana, we never once saw a white face! The Ghanaians took care of us.

While in Ghana we decided to visit nearby Nigeria (which is another story!). We flew to Nigeria for a few days and then back to Ghana. Ghana sits close to the Equator, and it is hot! Nor do the people have air conditioning! I could hardly believe my eyes when we returned to the Darkors’ house to find that while we were in Nigeria, they had gone out and bought an electric fan for each of our rooms in their house! They said they wanted us to be comfortable!

In the meantime, while we were gone, David had registered Rafiki as an NGO in Ghana and he did it in two days! Nobody but God could do that in African countries where such registration is a long drawn-out process. I remember feeling that God was carrying us in his arms for that whole trip!

In 1991 Rafiki’s NGO status was finalized in Ghana which enabled Rafiki to send eight missionaries to work as medical professionals and teachers and to start BSF classes.

In the following years as I traveled back and forth from the US to Ghana I became acquainted with Theresa Kufour, the wife of President Kufour. She and I became good friends as we tried to find products that Ghanaian widows could produce. We especially worked on soap that could be made from palm oil. There was plenty of that in Ghana!

We also became friends with Dr. John Amuasi and his wife, Joyce. John was the General Secretary of the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission and a Methodist. John helped Rafiki with the partnership with the Methodists and introduced us to the Reverend Dr. Robert Aboagye-Mensah, who was the head of the Methodist Church in Ghana. He and John Stott wrote introductions to the AFRICA BIBLE COMMENTARY published in 2006. Robert also wrote some of the articles in this outstanding commentary. In the years following, we came to love Robert and visited in his home often. And he introduced us to moringa tea that seems to be good for whatever ails you!

In 1999 it seemed that God was leading Rafiki to help with the orphan crisis in Africa caused by AIDS. We needed four things to start an orphanage in any country: land, NGO status, missionaries, and good government and church relationships. Although I had promised Janet Museveni in Uganda that we would build an orphanage in Uganda, the first country that met the requirements for an orphanage was Ghana. In Ghana we had NGO status, missionaries, and good government and church relationships. All we needed was land—approximately 20 acres.

Again, our Ghanaian friends came forth. David Konoteh-Ahulu scouted the area for us. Francis Darkor wanted us to be close to his clinic in Tema, John Amuasi wanted us to come near his Atomic Energy Commission site. In the end a 25-acre site was selected in Kotoku, a town some 20 miles from Accra. We leased the land from a family who was willing give us a 40-year lease with the promise that we would start a school where their children could be educated. With the help of John Amuasi and another close friend, Dr. Prof. Paul Fynn, head of the Lutheran Church Wisconsin Synod, Ghana, the property became ours. Paul Fynn has helped us through the years and is still a close friend of Rafiki’s. Paul started a Lutheran University in Accra and to this day works with Rafiki in many ways. He has become a close personal friend of our whole family’s. John Amuasi’s and Paul Fynn’s stories are told in HUMBLE HEROES published by Rafiki.

Ghana is a very special place. The people are peace-loving. They have never had a war. They value education more than money. They have a seminary called Trinity Seminary where Methodists, Presbyterians, and Anglicans all use the same facilities. The present Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church in Ghana is Bishop Paul Boafo. He is the one who asked Rafiki for 4,000 packets of Sunday School Lessons on the Book of Romans where all the Methodist churches will be preaching and teaching Romans starting this September. We have sent them, and they have been received in Ghana along with the Crossway commentary on Romans by R. Kent Hughes. Amazing what God can do through his people!

This story is too long but I need to say that by far the most important lesson I learned from Ghana is that people are more important than place.